Presenting Author - Robert Jordan

[Prof. Tarma Amelia Black]

Name of the author: Robert Jordan
Main genre: Fantasy, Adventure, Epic Fantasy
Main audience: young adult on

Main books: most noted for the The Wheel of Time series

Short summary of the author: Robert Jordan succeeded in writing a series of books (The Wheel of Time) which had people waiting impatiently for the next book to come out (sound familiar to HP fans?) and which continued for a total of 14 books. Mr. Jordan's ability to create a whole world, and fill it in with exactness and minutiae, is completely astounding. Starting with The Eye of the World, and culminating in A Memory of Light (co-written with Brandon Sanderson), he succeeded in creating a world filled with ... everything. Want excitement and adventure? There it is. Want drama and villains? That's there too. Want people who 'don't fit in'? Oh, yes, there you go.

Good points / bad points: I've only read the one series of books by him, so cannot comment on anything else he's written. That said, having read 14 books by him (albeit the last three are co-authored with Brandon Sanderson based on what Robert Jordan outlined as what would happen), I think he is one of the great 'epic' authors. He's not everyone's cup of tea -- and there were some complaints when the books were coming out that it was taking too long to get to the final battle -- but in the end, it's so worth it. Folks who complained about a couple of the books ("Nothing is happening!") have since written that, while those books were not their favourite, now they reread them gladly because in them are details upon which the rest of the books are based.

This is part of the Goodreads write-up on Robert Jordan

Robert Jordan was the pen name of James Oliver Rigney, Jr., under which he was best known as the author of the bestselling The Wheel of Time fantasy series. He also wrote under the names names Reagan O'Neal and Jackson O'Reilly.

Jordan was born in Charleston, South Carolina. He served two tours in Vietnam (from 1968 to 1970) with the United States Army as a helicopter gunner. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross with bronze oak leaf cluster, the Bronze Star with "V" and bronze oak leaf cluster, and two Vietnamese Gallantry Crosses with palm. After returning from Vietnam he attended The Citadel where he received an undergraduate degree in physics. After graduating he was employed by the United States Navy as a nuclear engineer. He began writing in 1977. He was a history buff and enjoyed hunting, fishing, sailing, poker, chess, pool, and pipe collecting.

[Prof. Tarma Amelia Black]

Title of the book: The Eye of the World
Author: Robert Jordan
Series: The Wheel of Time
Genres: Fantasy, Epic fantasy, Adventure, Science Fiction Fantasy

Short summary of the story: The book starts out with a Prologue telling of a history of long ago, of danger and murder and madness. Chapter 1 shifts scene entirely -- Rand al'Thor is a young man living with his father on a farm in the Two Rivers close to the village of Emond's Field. They are on their way to the village to be present for the annual Bel Tine festival. Danger is around them, always, in the shape of wolves and other animals who are looking for something to eat in the unseasonal stretch of winter continuing past the time that spring planting would have happened. I really don't want to go into detail as to what happens, because ... spoilers ... but suffice it to say that Rand and some of his friends end up going off with a very dangerous woman and a very dangerous man -- in order to spare the village being destroyed -- and that which was foretold in the Prologue starts coming true. By the end of the book, Rand acknowledges who he is, and accepts that he is changing, that he has changed, and has choices to make.

Good points / bad points: The story starts out in a world which is completely believable and builds in a logical manner to a place which is incredible and wonderful. Dangerous, yes. Wonderful, yes. Welcome to an entirely new and different world. The man who wrote the book knows of what he writes. I don't know of any bad points - except that the series was over too soon and I would love to read more of what happens next. That said, there are those (see the Goodreads write-ups by various people) who have tried it and couldn't get into it. It wasn't their cup of tea.

Goodreads writeup:

The Wheel of Time turns and Ages come and go, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth returns again. In the Third Age, an Age of Prophecy, the World and Time themselves hang in the balance. What was, what will be, and what is, may yet fall under the Shadow.